Davidson Investment Advisors Sells 7,774 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Davidson Investment Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,774 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $18,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $85.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.84.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

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.