The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Bell Bank

Bell Bank lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,458 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.2% of Bell Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Bell Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Southern by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 91,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 8.5% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $1,188,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 21,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $87.50 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.09. 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 company has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.