Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Decreases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,751 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $88.40 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.27. The firm has a market cap of $96.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Southern 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.