Secure Asset Management LLC Sells 1,137 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Secure Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,137 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,030,000 after purchasing an additional 18,472 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 92,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 77.9% during the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 7,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in Southern by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 16,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,157,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. 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 this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 valued at $3,488,826 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $93.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $64.53 and a 1-year high of $93.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Company 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.