Bleakley Financial Group LLC Lowers Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $93.24 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $93.35. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.71. The stock has a market cap of $101.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.