The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 835 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in Southern by 6.2% in the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 533,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,543,000 after acquiring an additional 3,847 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its position in Southern by 54.1% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 2,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 32.4% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $409,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

SO stock traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.21. 5,478,762 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’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 value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

About Southern

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.