Evermay Wealth Management LLC Sells 288 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 45.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $31,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,683,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Southern by 10.1% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 16,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,659,000 after acquiring an additional 4,940 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $532,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SO opened at $89.38 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.95. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

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.