Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 2,172 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Southern by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 15.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 15,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Southern by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,401,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,432,000 after buying an additional 213,704 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.7% in the third quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 64,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,129,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,845,749. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $86.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.24. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $79.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.73.

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.