22,688 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 22,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,046,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 181,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,010 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 26,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 33,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares during the period. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $792,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.3 %

SO stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,332,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,440,634. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $96.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

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.