Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 121,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,028,000 after purchasing an additional 13,113 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in Southern by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 12,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 58,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.