Sei Investments Co. Sells 81,161 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 399,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 81,161 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $32,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. Mindset Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, 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. This 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 through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, 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 quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.94 and its 200-day moving average is $87.23. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.