The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.92. 5,660,756 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,702,166. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The firm has a market cap of $80.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.24.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.13%.

About Southern

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.