GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires Shares of 3,345 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,361.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $1,168,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.9% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 30,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 3,293 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 17.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 278,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,007,000 after purchasing an additional 41,161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.68. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

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.