The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Cut by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 580,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,388 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $47,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 22,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Southern stock opened at $85.72 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 $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.77.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

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.