Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Reduces Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $84.95 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $84.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.55. The company has a market capitalization of $93.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

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.