The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC

Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 585 shares during the quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 121,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,493,000 after purchasing an additional 4,498 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Veracity Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,000. Finally, JB Capital LLC raised its position in Southern by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

Southern Trading Up 4.8 %

NYSE SO traded up $4.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $87.57. 7,103,142 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,484,479. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its 200-day moving average is $73.80. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $87.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

About Southern

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.