Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,953 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $7,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank raised its stake in Southern by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. UBS Group cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Argus increased their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,833,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,854,723. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $79.85. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.35%.

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.