Visionary Horizons LLC Decreases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Visionary Horizons LLC lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 0.5% of Visionary Horizons LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LongView Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the third quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 40,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 4,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $484,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Southern by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 13,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 2,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Southern stock opened at $84.53 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors 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 yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 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.