Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 112,893 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 73.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 41,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 112,893 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Syverson Strege & Co increased its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of Southern by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

SO opened at $91.69 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $70.70 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.31 and its 200-day moving average is $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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.