35,205 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 35,205 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,175,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.00.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $84.32. 3,865,587 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,424,718. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.45. 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.