Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $35.36 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 403,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,889 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $35,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 454.8% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $379,000. Nova R Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $455,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 71,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,551,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.37. 3,053,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,416,819. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.48. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.