The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Raised by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 172.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 131,378 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Southern were worth $18,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $1.73 on Friday, reaching $91.88. 2,498,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,411,693. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $89.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.51. The company has a market cap of $100.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

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.