The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 970 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Southern by 31.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,485,000 after buying an additional 33,266 shares in the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,699,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 303,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,567,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 4,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 9,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.77 and a 200-day moving average of $83.47. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $96.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SO. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

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.