Autumn Glory Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 107.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,823 shares during the quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 145,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Southern by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 38,109 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 7,855 shares during the last quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 18,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,654,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forbes J M & Co. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $223,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 shares were 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 directly owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $89.86. The stock had a trading volume of 5,860,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,410,783. 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 one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 68.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.07.

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.