Ieq Capital LLC Has $4.30 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ieq Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,943 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.99 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.59 and a 200-day moving average of $86.81. The company has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % 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 corporate insiders.

About Southern

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.