The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Courier Capital LLC

Courier Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,368 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after buying an additional 952 shares during the period. Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 7,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Southern by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 16,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $81.81. 3,555,002 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,788,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.