Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 3,924 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,924 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.07.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.11 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $90.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $101.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Southern 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.

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