Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $9,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 202,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 11,341 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 50.3% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 125.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 7,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 82,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.47.
Get Our Latest Report on SO
Southern Price Performance
Shares of SO traded up $0.41 on Thursday, hitting $89.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,504,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,439,474. The company has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.97.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.
Insider Activity
In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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