Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. Sells 2,587 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,587 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up 2.0% of Cahaba Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $24,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,663,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,440,846. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $64.53 and a one year high of $93.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors 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 presently 68.57%.

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.