The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Triton Wealth Management PLLC

Triton Wealth Management PLLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st 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. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,432,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,608,267. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $62.26 and a fifty-two week high of $91.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents 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 related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.