Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,675 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.00.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $90.97 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.29. The company has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.