Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 260 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 9.0% in the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 18,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $1,184,000. Finally, Woodstock Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.4% in the second quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 37,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,401,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,510,101. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. Company 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.