Atria Investments Inc decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,851 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in Southern were worth $11,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Southern by 45.9% during the 1st 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 boosted its position in Southern by 5.7% during the 3rd 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 51,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Southern by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,420,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $218,316,000 after buying an additional 279,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Stock Down 0.3 %
Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,883,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,454,492. The company has a market capitalization of $96.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.89. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.
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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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. The trade was 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.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.27.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on SO
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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