The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lessened by Plimoth Trust Co. LLC

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.70. 313,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,914,750. The company has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.57. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.