Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Sells 16,400 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 294,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,400 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Southern were worth $20,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 19,779 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,621,000. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,575 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.85 on Friday, reaching $68.73. 4,818,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,159,216. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.