Arax Advisory Partners Cuts Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Arax Advisory Partners lessened its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,639 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after buying an additional 285,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.87 and a 200-day moving average of $92.00. The firm has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Southern Profile

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.