Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 139,712 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,086,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 139,712 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Southern worth $97,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. 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. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $88.05. 4,991,481 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,444,091. The company's 50-day moving average price is $89.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.37. The company has a market cap of $96.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 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.