Dearborn Partners LLC Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 9.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $725,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 154.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 3,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.75 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.04. The company has a market cap of $101.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.