MAI Capital Management Raises Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MAI Capital Management grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 181,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 26,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in Southern by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 33,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $792,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho downgraded 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $87.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.37. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month 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 results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % 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, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.