Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,600,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 253,862 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises 1.7% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $144,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Southern by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.00.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $84.81 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.40. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

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.