The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Decreased by Stokes Family Office LLC

Stokes Family Office LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,940 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Southern by 112.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,864,000 after buying an additional 72,598 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 310,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its holdings in Southern by 9.2% in the third quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 8,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 4.1% during the third quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 7,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 67,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,342,000 after buying an additional 51,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.35%.

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.