Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $9.10 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,627 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $9,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted 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 worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $84.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,407,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,290,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm's 50-day moving average is $84.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.55. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $93.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Southern Company Profile

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.