Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.54 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.35. The company has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Southern 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.