Visionary Horizons LLC Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Visionary Horizons LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 579 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises 0.6% of Visionary Horizons LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Southern by 8.3% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 52.8% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 9.7% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 96,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,242,000 after purchasing an additional 8,531 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 6.0% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 25,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Southern by 3.7% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 7,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, 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 transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $78.20 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $80.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.14. The firm has a market cap of $85.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Argus upped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.14.

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.