The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 91.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 81,184 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Southern were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Destination Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Southern by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 559.5% during the 4th quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 30,543 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 25,912 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Southern by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.99 during trading on Thursday, hitting $89.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,586,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,308,750. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.08. 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 company has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. 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.