ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 42.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,325 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.64.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.0%

SO stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $88.28. 6,725,070 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,530,035. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.29. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. 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 3.35%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

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.