FourThought Financial Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,106 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.68. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

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.