Stifel Financial Corp Sells 82,562 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 963,266 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 82,562 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.09% of Southern worth $86,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Southern by 2,719.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Southern by 7,657.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,304,000 after buying an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Southern by 21.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,528,000 after acquiring an additional 452,075 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded down $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.81. 4,798,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,858,925. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.36 and a 200 day moving average of $85.36. The stock has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Insider Activity

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