Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 93,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,439,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Southern stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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 for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

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.