First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $1.96 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 6.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 188,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 10,991 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 8,176 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $622,000. JT Stratford LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.2% in the third quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 3,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $77.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $80.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” 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.