Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.3% of Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.7% in the third quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 66,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 5,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 947,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,308,000 after buying an additional 15,059 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.85 on Monday, reaching $74.06. The company had a trading volume of 542,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,678,104. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.64 and a 200-day moving average of $69.39. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $81.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.