Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.43 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 14.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,694,000 after acquiring an additional 297,012 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,454,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,388,963. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.76. 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 company has a market cap of $98.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.