Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 20,443 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 20,443 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $11,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $236,271,000 after buying an additional 82,946 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.60. 3,440,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,703,513. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.74. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern 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.