Glen Eagle Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 20.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 168.1% during 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 boosted its holdings in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 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 approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $84.81 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.28. The company has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.