Quest Partners LLC Takes $2.05 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 22,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 219.4% in the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $455,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction 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 represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $88.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.