The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Field & Main Bank

Field & Main Bank boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $376,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,607,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 100.5% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 8,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Square LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 25,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.0 %

SO stock opened at $88.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.75. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, 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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

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.