Dakota Wealth Management Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dakota Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 168,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,640 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $84.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.36. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $92.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Company 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.