The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target 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, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $87.60 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.73 and a 200-day moving average of $84.79. The company has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 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 $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.