MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 0.9% of MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.58 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $90.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.23. The stock has a market cap of $94.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

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.