Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 9,700 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 36.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,700 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 120.1% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.92. The company had a trading volume of 4,463,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,443,138. The company has a market capitalization of $96.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $89.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.13. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.