The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Bank OZK increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 30,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 258,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,021,000 after acquiring an additional 36,142 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 666.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. 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 report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $86.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $89.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.