Hancock Whitney Corp Reduces Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,296 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its stake in Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,940,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,361,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,511,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,459,372. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.41. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $73.20 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.