Toronto Dominion Bank Reduces Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 509,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,929 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $39,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Southern by 90.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 6,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $97.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.58 and a 200 day moving average of $79.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.85.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.60.

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.