Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 29,017 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Corient Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 29,017 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $20,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE SO traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.21. 8,327,269 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,308,321. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $86.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.26. The firm has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors 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 3.23%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim cut 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 issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.