TCTC Holdings LLC Has $8.70 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

TCTC Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,605,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,866,000 after purchasing an additional 465,399 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

SO opened at $90.44 on Monday. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.88 and its 200 day moving average is $87.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently 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.