BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 26,541 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,455 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 26,541 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $16,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,363,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,098,644. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $89.72 and its 200-day moving average is $85.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.47.

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.