Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $70,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 2.5% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 219.4% in the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $93.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $101.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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