The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Certified Advisory Corp

Certified Advisory Corp raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 28.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,032,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $4,645,000. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 76.9% during the third quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 18,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Southern by 22.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 140,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,634,000 after purchasing an additional 25,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lathrop Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 7,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

SO stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.73 and a 200-day moving average of $84.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.