Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Sells 3,322 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Pathway Financial Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company by 6.6%, owning 46,863 shares after selling 3,322 shares in the first quarter.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates by $0.08, while revenue increased 7.9% year-over-year to $6.97 billion.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing a 3.1% yield, to be paid on September 8th to investors of record on August 18th.

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,863 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,322 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.5% of Pathway Financial Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Southern by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 8,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. IFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 100,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,215,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,169,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Southern by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 226,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,814,000 after buying an additional 10,150 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $96.02. 5,837,308 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,309,095. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.50. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.