The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $81.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,498,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,783,359. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

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.