The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Sagefield Capital LP

Sagefield Capital LP lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 113.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,414 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $90.52 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.59. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.10.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

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.