Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 1,057 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,057 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Southern by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,607,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Southern by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 2,186,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,826,000 after purchasing an additional 135,837 shares in the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 79,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,679,000 after purchasing an additional 4,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 5,630 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Trading Up 2.0 %

Southern stock opened at $88.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.82. 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 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $97.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.