Keynote Financial Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Keynote Financial Services LLC reduced its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Southern by 2,719.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % 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 Down 0.6 %

NYSE:SO opened at $86.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 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 fifty day simple moving average of $89.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.