Legal & General Group Plc Sells 107,695 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its Southern Company stake by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 107,695 shares and leaving it with 8.42 million shares valued at about $734.6 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.32 versus $1.21 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74, implying a 3.2% annualized yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $99.56.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,424,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 107,695 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.77% of Southern worth $734,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 43,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,753,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 24,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daviman Financial LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $644,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.56.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE SO opened at $94.67 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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