HighTower Advisors LLC Has $93.78 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,039,294 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,132 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Southern worth $93,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 168,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,481 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in Southern by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 28,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,475,000. Finally, CX Institutional grew its stake in Southern by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,355 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut shares of 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE SO traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, hitting $85.84. 3,795,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,431,594. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company's 50-day moving average price is $89.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.27.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors 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 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.