Sagefield Capital LP Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sagefield Capital LP lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 113.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 47,414 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP's holdings in Southern were worth $6,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 12.4% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,606 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Southern by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 185,436 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,384,000 after purchasing an additional 61,771 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $604,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $509,000. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 16.4% in the second quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.73. 5,384,578 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,475,447. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $98.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.41 and a 200-day moving average of $79.10.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.