Good Life Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Good Life Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,547,000. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 21.6% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 4,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6.8% during the first quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Southern by 49.0% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,030,000 after buying an additional 18,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $92.72 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $92.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.49. The company has a market capitalization of $101.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

About Southern

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.