Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 12,555 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,555 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $174,000. SVB Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 17,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 100,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,064,000 after purchasing an additional 8,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its holdings in Southern by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 3,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $86.72. 1,146,361 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,459,176. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $89.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Argus upped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

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.