Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Has $47.32 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,731 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,821 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $47,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 63.2% during 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 period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $2.49 on Friday, reaching $88.54. 6,817,447 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The company has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.74 and a 200 day moving average of $83.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company'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 value 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.