Prosperity Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Bank of Hawaii raised its holdings in Southern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 31,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,830,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 202,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 11,341 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 4,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 125.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, 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 value of $2,689,200.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.79. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

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.