Team Hewins LLC Has $244,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Team Hewins LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 519 shares during the quarter. Team Hewins LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.11 on Thursday, reaching $79.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,087,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,539. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $80.84. The company has a market capitalization of $86.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.67.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.