Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

SO stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.80. The stock has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

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.