Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Has $11.42 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,463 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.18. The stock had a trading volume of 4,010,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,585. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $83.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.47.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.