Trilogy Capital Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trilogy Capital Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 2,957 shares during the period. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $1,969,000. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its position in Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 50,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 121,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,035,000 after purchasing an additional 20,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $83.72 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $91.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.