The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 0.8% of Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $89.54. The company had a trading volume of 680,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,468,505. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.94 and a 200 day moving average of $80.41. 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 firm has a market cap of $97.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $64.53 and a 1-year high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.27.

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.