Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Sells 172 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $379,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 43,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,102,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 84,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,876,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 13.6% during the second quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.37 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.47. The firm has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.