Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Buys 72,370 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,439,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,370 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $200,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,556,000 after acquiring an additional 14,824 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 60.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 8,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.14 and a 200 day moving average of $87.32. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.