Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 20,891 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,891 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

SO stock opened at $90.60 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $68.02 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.08 and its 200 day moving average is $87.31. The company has a market capitalization of $99.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.