Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 702 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 87,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 702 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 146,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,084,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 60,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,982,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 93,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 69,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,750,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

Southern stock opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $97.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.99 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.87.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.