Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC Has $3.98 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,293 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 0.7% of Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 29,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 28,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after buying an additional 11,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.64. 2,560,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,578,034. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.00. The company has a market cap of $89.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio 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.