The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Guggenheim raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $91.60. The stock had a trading volume of 844,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,434,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

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.