The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Increased by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 29.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,485 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,180,430,000 after buying an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Southern by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.3% in the 3rd 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. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 2nd 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. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,329,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,448,167. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.27.

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.