Weaver Capital Management LLC Buys 582 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after acquiring an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Southern by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,694,000 after purchasing an additional 297,012 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $93.08 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $93.73. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.