Leelyn Smith LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Leelyn Smith LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

SO stock opened at $90.57 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.07 and a 200-day moving average of $87.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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). The business 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%. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Southern

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.