Allen Capital Group LLC Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 76.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 1,361.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,982 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 241.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 44,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,173,000 after buying an additional 31,292 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,457,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.47.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.60. 3,439,990 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,441,546. The firm has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The stock's fifty day moving average is $89.77 and its 200 day moving average is $84.60. 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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 3.29%. Southern's payout ratio is 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.