Palisade Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Simmons Bank grew its position in Southern by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 55,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,993,000 after buying an additional 111,311 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp grew its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 51,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,585,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.63. 6,643,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,822,375. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $77.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.82. The company has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Southern Company 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.