Brick & Kyle Associates Has $2.98 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Brick & Kyle Associates decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Brick & Kyle Associates’ holdings in Southern were worth $2,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. SCP Investment LP acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 373,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,220,000 after purchasing an additional 22,214 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, 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. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $90.10 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.60.

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.