Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Takes $3.18 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,175,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,277,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $232,000. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at $223,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 15.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 75,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,771,000 after acquiring an additional 10,057 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $84.81 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted 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 net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.00.

Southern 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.