Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $52,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.41 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.86. 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, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.