The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Raised by DRW Securities LLC

DRW Securities LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 667.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,424 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during 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. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.73 and its 200-day moving average is $84.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business 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 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

About Southern

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.