Howe & Rusling Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.97 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $96.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.57. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.