The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Decreased by Connectus Wealth LLC

Connectus Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 10,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the first quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Palladium Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. Palladium Partners LLC now owns 10,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Advisor Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Partners LLC now owns 38,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Gleason Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 15,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 21st. UBS Group upgraded Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.70.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.58, for a total transaction of $1,081,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,880.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,987 shares in the company, valued at $10,411,012. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.58, for a total transaction of $1,081,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,880.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,083,910. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SO opened at $77.27 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $60.99 and a one year high of $78.78. The company has a market cap of $82.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.21.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.23. Southern had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.77%.

About Southern

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The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations.