Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,804 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.72 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $89.90 and a 200 day moving average of $87.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.