Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Acquires 6,021 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,021 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $302,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Southern by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,719,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the 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 in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.44 on Monday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.88 and its 200 day moving average is $87.14. The company has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.