The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 393,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,200,000 after acquiring an additional 9,481 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 358.5% in the 1st quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 26,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 20,888 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,262,000 after buying an additional 2,246 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its stake in Southern by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.57. The company had a trading volume of 6,226,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,873,369. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.58 and its 200 day moving average is $72.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.14.

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.