Hancock Whitney Corp Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,296 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $90.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,332,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,470,757. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.35. The Southern Company has a one year low of $73.20 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $99.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.82%.

Southern 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.