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 fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,206 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Southern stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $88.10. 661,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,488,774. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23. 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 announced 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 analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.