Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 302,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,600 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $21,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC increased its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.74 on Friday, reaching $77.30. 1,919,933 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,624,050. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.33 and a 200-day moving average of $72.18. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $84.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

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.