The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by STAR Financial Bank

STAR Financial Bank lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 493 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.97 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued 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 3.27%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.