Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC Sells 1,246 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,246 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $86.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.91 and a 200 day moving average of $84.12. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

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.