Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 76.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,911 shares during the quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Southern by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Southern by 7.0% in the second quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Southern by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 208,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,163,000 after buying an additional 16,467 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Southern by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 90,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,028,000 after buying an additional 8,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV lifted its stake in Southern by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 10,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.81. 4,798,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,858,925. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. 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 $89.36 and its 200-day moving average is $85.40.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.47.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.