The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1,019.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 86,879 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $8,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

Southern stock traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.81. The company had a trading volume of 4,798,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,858,925. The stock has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. 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 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.36 and a 200 day moving average of $85.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

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.