Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,005 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.1 %

SO traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $78.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,399,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,824,747. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $78.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $85.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. 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.