Vectors Research Management LLC Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vectors Research Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,294 shares during the quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SO opened at $86.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.12.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 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.