Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,485,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 63,850 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Southern worth $129,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $318,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,379,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Bush Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bush Investment Group LLC now owns 15,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,536 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 106,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Southern Stock Down 0.3%

SO stock opened at $96.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.72. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 75.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.