Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Acquires 3,424 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,424 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% during 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 buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 35.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SO opened at $86.93 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $95.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. 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 accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.