Jacobsen Capital Management Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Jacobsen Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased 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 worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased 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 worth $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,192,000 after purchasing an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Southern by 14.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,694,000 after purchasing an additional 297,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.86 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.56 and a 200 day moving average of $82.91. The firm has a market cap of $98.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

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.