Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 240,384 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. RF&L Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $423,000. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 17,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 10,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its position in shares of Southern by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 5,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $95.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.84. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Southern Profile

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.