Cypress Capital Group Decreases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,160 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Southern were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,727,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,285,584. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $85.07 and its 200 day moving average is $87.00. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.