Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV Lowers Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 3,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management raised its stake in Southern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 184,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,638,000 after acquiring an additional 6,259 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC raised its stake in Southern by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 31,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Southern by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 207,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,701,000 after acquiring an additional 131,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

SO opened at $93.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.20. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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 business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.