Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its Southern Company stake by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 194,124 shares and leaving it with 1,032,690 shares worth about $90.1 million.
• Southern reported strong quarterly results, posting $1.32 EPS versus $1.21 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74.
• Analysts are mostly cautious on the stock: Southern has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $99.38, while the shares recently traded around $90.42.

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,032,690 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 194,124 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Southern worth $90,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Southern by 320.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Southern Trading Up 1.6%

Southern stock opened at $90.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $94.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.83. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $101.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

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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