Sargent Investment Group LLC Invests $222,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sargent Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after buying an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position 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 valued at $245,113,000 after acquiring an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $236,271,000 after purchasing an additional 82,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,192,000 after purchasing an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $86.78 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.12. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

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. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.