Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 2,954 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,954 shares during the quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $7,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $302,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

SO stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,327,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,304,444. The company has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $86.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, 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 value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

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.