The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 63.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $93.61 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.20.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern 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.