West Family Investments Inc. Sells 346 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

West Family Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Southern by 112.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,864,000 after buying an additional 72,598 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Southern by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 16,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Southern by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 126,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,182,000 after buying an additional 10,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $75.05. 2,141,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,699,825. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.54. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.92. The company has a market cap of $82.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last ninety days. Company 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.