Bristlecone Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 539 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:SO opened at $94.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $104.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.