Hantz Financial Services Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,720 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $7,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 15.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 184,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,290,000 after purchasing an additional 14,399 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth $297,000. Founders Financial Alliance LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at $197,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE SO traded up $1.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $84.08. 1,583,334 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,024,686. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. 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 cap of $92.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $84.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.