Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Has $200.83 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,439,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,370 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.22% of Southern worth $200,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syverson Strege & Co increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its position in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.07 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.14 and a 200-day moving average of $87.32. The company has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. 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 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was 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 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.