Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 72,215 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 330,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 72,215 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $27,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $100.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock 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. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.