The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,953 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Southern by 149.5% in the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $86.78 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.12.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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, Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

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.