Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 253,862 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,600,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 253,862 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.7% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.15% of Southern worth $144,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 20.3% during the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 50,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,929,000 after acquiring an additional 5,201 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Southern by 20.1% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,608 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the last quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. increased its position in Southern by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 4,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $84.32. 3,865,587 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,424,718. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

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.