Advocate Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advocate Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,669 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.4% of Advocate Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after purchasing an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Southern by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after purchasing an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.74. The company had a trading volume of 4,731,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,381,521. The company has a market cap of $78.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.48 and its 200-day moving average is $68.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm 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%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.46.

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.