Keynote Financial Services LLC Sells 295 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Keynote Financial Services LLC decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 295 shares during the quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Southern by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,420,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $218,316,000 after buying an additional 279,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $86.93 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market capitalization of $95.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.86 and its 200 day moving average is $83.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related 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 transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was 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 hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.