L & S Advisors Inc Acquires 18,160 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

L & S Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,160 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 213,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,297,000 after buying an additional 9,689 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its position in Southern by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 7,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Southern by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 170,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 286,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $99.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.34 and a 200-day moving average of $87.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

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.