Sky Investment Group LLC Acquires 700 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sky Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 1.3% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 76.9% during the third quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 36,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,308,000 after buying an additional 15,948 shares in the last quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 9,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth $215,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,469,000 after purchasing an additional 39,840 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 18,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.19. 465,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,415,218. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.95. The company has a market cap of $100.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $64.53 and a 12-month high of $93.73.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

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.