The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Reduced by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 329,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 34,681 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $29,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,000. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its position in Southern by 19.0% during the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 14,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company raised its stake in Southern by 1.9% during the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 19,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 32,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,887,000 after buying an additional 12,914 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $93.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,669,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,420,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $89.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.20. The stock has a market cap of $102.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 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.