Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 134,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,443 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,271,000 after purchasing an additional 82,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’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 $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.73 and a 200 day moving average of $84.79. The stock has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

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.