Cornerstone Management Inc. Sells 8,498 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornerstone Management Inc. reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,498 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $207,000. Patten Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 6,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Southern by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 2.8% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 178,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,086,000 after purchasing an additional 9,481 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $89.70. 216,217 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,455,977. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.29 and a 200 day moving average of $80.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Southern Company 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.