Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 523 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.41 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.86. The company has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, 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 directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.