Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $13.77 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2,078.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 145,667 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $13,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,689,200.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,209,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,414,737. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.22. The company has a market cap of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.