Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Cuts Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 24.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,679 shares during the quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 11,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.44 and a 200 day moving average of $92.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.