Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 3,385 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,385 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd 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. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.77 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $98.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.