The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.