Searle & CO. Sells 1,914 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Searle & CO. cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 33.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,914 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Southern were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Southern by 2,719.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

SO traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.45. 815,292 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,410,125. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $93.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.