Sabal Trust CO Sells 3,218 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sabal Trust CO cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 253,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,218 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Southern were worth $20,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service raised its stake in Southern by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,600,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,038,000 after acquiring an additional 179,184 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 291,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 570,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $645,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.85 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.86. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four 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 $90.54.

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.