The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Coston McIsaac & Partners

Coston McIsaac & Partners lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,917 shares during the period. Southern comprises about 1.8% of Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $6,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $82.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.