Bell Bank Has $9.80 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bell Bank decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,458 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.2% of Bell Bank's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Bell Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $9,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,006,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 91,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,593,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,188,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 21,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.78. 3,265,132 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,443,037. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.