Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC Makes New $49,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $236,271,000 after buying an additional 82,946 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was 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.