KRS Capital Management LLC Sells 663 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

KRS Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 96,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,242,000 after buying an additional 8,531 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 25,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 7,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 121.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 80,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,190,000 after buying an additional 44,050 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 107,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,959,000 after buying an additional 13,490 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $77.57. The stock had a trading volume of 6,226,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,873,369. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.