Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $81.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,498,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,783,359. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.13. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.