ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,242 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after buying an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after buying an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.64. The stock has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

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.