The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 48.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,376 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,682 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,736,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,474,003. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $86.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.95. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Company 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.