The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 270,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,892 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $22,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $87.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $96.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $90.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.07.

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.