Sandy Spring Bank Has $1.28 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,605,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,866,000 after purchasing an additional 465,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.01 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.24. The company has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.