Investment Management Corp of Ontario Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Southern were worth $3,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $85.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,768,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,422,460. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.27.

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. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern 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.