CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,741 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1,361.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $1,168,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.9% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 30,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 3,293 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 278,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,007,000 after buying an additional 41,161 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.68. The company has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two 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 released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.