Haverford Trust Co Acquires 1,766 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $97.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.23. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.