The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 71,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.7% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $1,547,000. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Southern by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 4,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,030,000 after buying an additional 18,472 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.72 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $92.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.49. The firm has a market cap of $101.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.

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.