The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,350 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in Southern by 23.4% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Southern by 63.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after acquiring an additional 239,325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $66.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $58.85 and a 12 month high of $80.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 98.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.48, for a total transaction of $357,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,741,580.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 20,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $1,452,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,164,616.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.48, for a total transaction of $357,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,741,580.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,490 shares of company stock worth $6,490,605 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.44.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.