TCTC Holdings LLC Decreases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

TCTC Holdings LLC lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,848 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $9,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Southern by 35.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:SO traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.64. 3,805,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,461,732. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.75. 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 fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.27.

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.