Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 917,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 168,901 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Southern worth $75,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.26. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of 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 given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

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.