Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 93,432 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Toronto Dominion Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 389,888 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 93,432 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $32,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 60,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,983,000 after buying an additional 18,809 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.72 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Southern 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.

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