The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after buying an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Southern by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,528,000 after buying an additional 452,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.97. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.