Metis Global Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Southern by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 942,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,429,000 after purchasing an additional 85,921 shares in the last quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. VeraBank N.A. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,402. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $75.47. The company had a trading volume of 7,810,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,774,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.68. The company has a market cap of $82.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $76.28.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.35%.

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.