United Services Automobile Association Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

United Services Automobile Association cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,289 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 95,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,694,000 after buying an additional 7,254 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.32 on Tuesday. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $97.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.24 and its 200-day moving average is $77.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors 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 yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

About Southern

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.