Syon Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Syon Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $91.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.35. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $73.14 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.54.

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.