Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.57 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $86.07 and its 200 day moving average is $87.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current 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 3.18%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.