Hodges Capital Management Inc. Sells 35,818 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 89.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,818 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $84.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,865,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,424,718. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.45. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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 for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.