Callan Family Office LLC Has $1.22 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Callan Family Office LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 56.6%, selling 17,295 shares and holding 13,248 shares valued at $1,218,000.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern's stock, decreasing her ownership by 12.32% after the sale.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.2%, while also reporting earnings of $0.91 per share, falling short of estimates.

Callan Family Office LLC lowered its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 56.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,295 shares during the quarter. Callan Family Office LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

SO traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $94.25. The stock had a trading volume of 5,252,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,366,870. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $92.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.09. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.