Clearstead Trust LLC Has $533,000 Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Clearstead Trust LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its position in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $89.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $85.38 and a 200-day moving average of $78.35. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.