DMC Group LLC Trims Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

DMC Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Southern comprises about 1.1% of DMC Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its holdings in Southern by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 12,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 66,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 110.8% during the 2nd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the second quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 89,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 100.5% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 3,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Saturday, August 19th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.13.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $1,452,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,164,616.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,569.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $70.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,522,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,054,703. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.10. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $78.22.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.