Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 379,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,211 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $34,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Southern by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southern by 14.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,694,000 after buying an additional 297,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

Southern stock opened at $88.54 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.35. The stock has a market cap of $96.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.