The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Your Advocates Ltd. LLP

Your Advocates Ltd. LLP decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 15,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 322,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,395 shares in the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $337,000. Wealth Management Nebraska bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $291,000. Finally, Bell Bank raised its stake in Southern by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 121,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,028,000 after acquiring an additional 13,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.82. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.99 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

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.