Welch Group LLC Sells 5,375 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Welch Group LLC lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 780,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,375 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 2.9% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $64,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after purchasing an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $84.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $92.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.64. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.