Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Waycross Partners LLC

Waycross Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 97.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 157,309 shares during the quarter. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial raised its position in Southern by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SO opened at $95.51 on Friday. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $105.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 75.32%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.