Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,920,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,245,816 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,804,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2,078.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 152,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,769,000 after acquiring an additional 145,667 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 12.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,039,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,780,000 after purchasing an additional 112,132 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $91.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $100.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.