GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 132 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GAMMA Investing LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $82.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $90.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.90. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.