Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 303,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,527 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $28,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $376,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 174,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,491,000 after purchasing an additional 8,713 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Southern by 16.7% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 22,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 3,255 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in Southern by 14.7% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 125,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,006,000 after buying an additional 16,068 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 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 issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of 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 target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern 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.