KRS Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

KRS Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.57. 6,226,973 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,873,369. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $80.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.