The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 308,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,516 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $25,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.51 on Monday, reaching $88.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,640,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,310,333. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $86.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.