AM Investment Strategies LLC Trims Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

AM Investment Strategies LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Southern accounts for 1.8% of AM Investment Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. AM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $376,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,659,000 after acquiring an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at $532,000. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Southern by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $1,255,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $2.49 on Friday, reaching $88.54. 6,817,447 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.15. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Southern 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.