The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,648,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,211 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned 0.15% of Southern worth $135,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

Southern stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.07. 2,653,080 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,380,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $89.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.87. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

About Southern

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.