Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $9.77 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.97. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.