The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $92.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.28 and a 200 day moving average of $87.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

About Southern

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.