Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 465,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,641 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises 0.8% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $38,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 136,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999 shares in the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 21,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $257,000. Finally, Visionary Horizons LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 8,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.50 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.24.

Southern Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.01. The company had a trading volume of 5,097,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,454,843. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.63 and a 200 day moving average of $91.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $107.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.31. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $81.69 and a 1-year high of $99.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.