L.M. Kohn & Company Decreases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

L.M. Kohn & Company reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Southern by 363.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 152,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,571,000 after purchasing an additional 119,475 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,020,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Little House Capital LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $948,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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, Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $85.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.79. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.