McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. 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 target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $92.27 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.56 and a 200 day moving average of $81.41. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $64.53 and a 52-week high of $92.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $100.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was 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 valued at $3,488,826 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.