The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 399,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 81,161 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $32,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

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.