Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Has $690,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,507 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 11.3% during the third quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 10,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 12.9% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 10,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC lifted its position in Southern by 8.5% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 9.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $91.54 on Monday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.