Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 7,443 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,443 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $576,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake 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 valued at $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.79. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Southern Company 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.