Kanawha Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,210 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.54 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.35. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.