Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 14,109 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,109 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Southern by 17.6% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 259,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,394,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 18,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.54 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

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.