Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $3.80 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,230 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 21,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Southern by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 22,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,816 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 120.1% in the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 893,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,095,000 after purchasing an additional 77,952 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $82.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,010,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,585. The firm has a market cap of $89.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $83.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the 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 directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

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.