The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,800 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

Southern stock opened at $89.44 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.19. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $97.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.