Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,224 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after purchasing an additional 839,621 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 24.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $74.96 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average is $69.68. The stock has a market cap of $82.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

About Southern

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.