The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $379,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 2.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 43,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Southern by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 84,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,876,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.