24,881 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,194,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Southern by 39.9% during the third quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 130,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,827,000 after acquiring an additional 37,247 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Southern by 19.1% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 92,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,908,000 after acquiring an additional 14,798 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in Southern by 29.2% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $1,908,000. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $3,059,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Capital One Financial set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.32.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.51 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $81.69 and a 12 month high of $99.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.50. The company has a market cap of $107.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $8.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.70 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 69.25%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling Spainhour, Jr. sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total transaction of $306,002.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,886 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,453.66. This represents a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company is an energy holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service, primarily across the southeastern United States.

Its electric utility businesses include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers in their respective states. Southern Company also owns Southern Power, which develops and operates wholesale power generation assets, and Southern Company Gas, whose businesses distribute natural gas to customers in several states.

Formed in 1945, Southern Company has grown from a regional electric utility holding company into a diversified energy provider.