Carson Advisory Inc. Has $4.92 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Carson Advisory Inc. cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 3.8% of Carson Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.33. 5,459,938 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,740,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.92. The company has a market cap of $82.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

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.