The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,206 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,839,000 after acquiring an additional 10,139 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 381,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 32,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:SO traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $88.19. The stock had a trading volume of 5,065,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,497,018. The company has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.22. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

About Southern

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.