Accurate Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 49.0% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,030,000 after acquiring an additional 18,472 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.3% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 92,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its holdings in Southern by 77.9% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network boosted its holdings in Southern by 7.5% in the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 16,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim raised 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. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.
Insider Transactions at Southern
In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Southern Stock Up 0.6 %
NYSE:SO opened at $93.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $93.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.
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.
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