Stableford Capital II LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stableford Capital II LLC trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,602 shares during the quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 16,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the third quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 125,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,329,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $91.18 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $88.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. 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 Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.