Intact Investment Management Inc. Has $3.73 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 68.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 97,810 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $3,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $89.65. 3,366,151 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,285,927. The firm's 50 day moving average is $86.26 and its 200-day moving average is $87.21. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. 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 firm has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company'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 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 approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Southern Company 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.