Moors & Cabot Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,810 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 120.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.92. 1,743,838 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,429,597. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.55. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

About Southern

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.