Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,728 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,567,000 after acquiring an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:SO opened at $90.86 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.37. The firm has a market cap of $100.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $84.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.91.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.