Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its Southern stake by 17.7%, selling 3,509,214 shares in Q4 and now holds 16,300,985 shares (~1.48% of the company) valued at about $1.42 billion.
• Insider selling occurred recently: CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares for roughly $2.42 million (a 19.44% cut to her holding) and EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares, reflecting notable insider dispositions.
• Analyst and financial snapshot: The consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $98.69, Southern yields 3.0% ($0.74 quarterly), and last quarter it reported $0.55 EPS (missed by $0.01) with revenue up 10.1% year-over-year.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,300,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,509,214 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.48% of Southern worth $1,421,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.69.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $97.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $109.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $95.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Southern Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.