Advance Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Southern by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 390,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,265,000 after acquiring an additional 11,530 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 150,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,650,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 109,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,459,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 14,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6.5% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $1.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,244,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,818,019. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.02. The company has a market cap of $88.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 3.04 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.