Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.63 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

SO traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.60. The company had a trading volume of 844,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,434,489. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.33. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $64.53 and a 52 week high of $91.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Southern Company 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.