Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Acquires 6,504 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,504 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $5,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Southern by 17,272.6% during 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $577,657,000 after buying an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Southern by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $236,271,000 after buying an additional 82,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % 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 Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.54 on Friday, hitting $87.60. 3,440,105 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,703,513. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.74. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.47.

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.