Leisure Capital Management Makes New $1.10 Million Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Leisure Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,156 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target 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, Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Stock Up 1.7 %

Southern stock traded up $1.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $92.29. 3,415,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,447,343. The company's fifty day moving average price is $88.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.33. The company has a market cap of $100.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $92.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Southern'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 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.