The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,679,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 242,620 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Southern were worth $220,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.12 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.