8,787 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 8,741.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Southern by 2,719.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,670,000 after purchasing an additional 841,435 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,304,000 after purchasing an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.93. 4,464,526 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,426,315. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $96.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.

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.