WFA of San Diego LLC Trims Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

WFA of San Diego LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 86.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,710 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,472,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,277,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,943 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,719,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,415,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,906,914 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,428,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,073,493,000 after acquiring an additional 349,353 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,190,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,296,000 after acquiring an additional 255,838 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,613,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $529,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969,743 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total transaction of $339,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,226,693.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total transaction of $339,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,226,693.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.39, for a total value of $693,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,990,868.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,146,405. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.80.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $69.44 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.34.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 101.08%.

Southern 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.