Capital Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 649 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 8,741.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Southern by 72.4% during 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 boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,605,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.
Insider Activity
In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of SO stock opened at $83.67 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.55.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.
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.
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