Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Sells 3,205 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,205 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Southern were worth $13,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in Southern by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Southern by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,556,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Southern by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 8,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % 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, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

SO traded up $1.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.69. The company had a trading volume of 3,461,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,528,453. The company has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.33. 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $70.70 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid 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 3.14%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.