Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Sells 7,347 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,347 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 11,230.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1,747.3% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,785,000 after acquiring an additional 847,803 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $96.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $91.50 and its 200 day moving average is $89.58. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.29.

Southern Company 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.