Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Takes $9.76 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 108,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,757,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd 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 period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.77 and a 200-day moving average of $84.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders 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 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

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.