Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

SO stock opened at $67.76 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.