Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Decreases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 28.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 21,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in Southern by 667.8% during the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 49,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,502,000 after buying an additional 43,424 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Southern by 5.9% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 134,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,102,000 after buying an additional 7,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 31,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $96.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.79. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

About Southern

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.