Hartford Financial Management Inc. Has $2.65 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $372,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 28,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Emprise Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted 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. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $84.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.55. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.