Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,404 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,404 shares during the quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after purchasing an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after buying an additional 563,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 21.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,528,000 after acquiring an additional 452,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.