Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 7,443 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,443 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Southern were worth $12,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Bank of Hawaii boosted its stake in Southern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 31,378 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,830,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 202,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 11,341 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $87.75. 1,751,711 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,429,399. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.79. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.