Firestone Capital Management Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Firestone Capital Management trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 43.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,244 shares during the quarter. Firestone Capital Management's holdings in Southern were worth $352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.39. The company had a trading volume of 5,319,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,471,255. The firm has a market cap of $100.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $74.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern's payout ratio is 73.82%.

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.