2,430 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,096,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.6% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Southern by 18.2% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 79,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,697,000 after buying an additional 12,247 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 6.4% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 41,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 10.4% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $64.53 and a 12-month high of $93.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.11.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

About Southern

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.