Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. Has $222,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC increased its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $96.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average is $83.26.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.