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

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 171,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,581 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.91. 5,579,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,671,435. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The company has a market capitalization of $80.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.13%.

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.