Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 230 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SO. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

SO opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.18. The company has a market cap of $79.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.