Lathrop Investment Management Corp Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lathrop Investment Management Corp lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the period. Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after purchasing an additional 839,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.21. The company had a trading volume of 5,478,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.64 and its 200 day moving average is $69.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.05 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

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.