Horizon Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

SO opened at $90.22 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.21. 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 one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.