Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 235,144 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,365,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 235,144 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.12% of Southern worth $112,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,632,000 after buying an additional 31,776 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,482,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 67,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,515,000 after buying an additional 16,076 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.86 on Monday, hitting $91.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,927,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,490,956. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $100.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.