The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Reduced by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,067 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $8,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 94.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. increased its holdings in Southern by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,983,000 after buying an additional 11,605 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.85. 3,640,983 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,310,333. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $97.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over 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.