The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings 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 valued at $199,528,000 after buying an additional 452,075 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. 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 is available at this link. In other 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. 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 is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $92.27 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $92.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $100.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.12%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.