The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,362 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $85.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

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.