Horizon Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,046,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SO opened at $90.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $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 company has a market capitalization of $98.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued 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 3.19%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.