Arax Advisory Partners Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Arax Advisory Partners reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,639 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after buying an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SO opened at $93.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.00. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $105.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.