The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Lessened by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,928,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 148,904 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.27% of Southern worth $241,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,351,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,835,000 after purchasing an additional 52,799 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,842,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 28,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 29,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.07.

Southern Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.35 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.38. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $99.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.