International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 1,486,900 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 98.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,486,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 2,697 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 77.5% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 58.6% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 191,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,853,000 after purchasing an additional 79,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $82.97 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.52 and a 200-day moving average of $86.03. The company has a market cap of $90.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

About Southern

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.