Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 2,916 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 76.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,916 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $72,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,485,000 after acquiring an additional 33,266 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.9% in the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.54. 6,727,812 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,285,584. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.00. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.