Davis R M Inc. Sells 1,273 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Davis R M Inc. cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 25.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Southern by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 53,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,752,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $686,000. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.70. 1,030,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,455,435. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $78.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.28. The stock has a market cap of $89.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $82.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

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.