Atomi Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Southern by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,194,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,749,000 after buying an additional 221,452 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 20,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,359 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 29,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 9,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 144,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,139,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.54. The company has a market cap of $97.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $64.53 and a one year high of $91.86. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.27.

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.