Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 1,232 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,232 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Southern by 2.6% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 30,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in Southern by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 6,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 13,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 19,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 328,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,407,751. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.11. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $102.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Southern 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.