Zacks Investment Management Sells 142,503 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Zacks Investment Management lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,284,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 142,503 shares during the period. Southern comprises 1.0% of Zacks Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Zacks Investment Management owned 0.12% of Southern worth $105,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,461,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,528,453. The company has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $89.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.33. The Southern Company has a one year low of $70.70 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 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.