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

Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.27.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SO opened at $90.31 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.94 and its 200-day moving average is $80.34. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $62.26 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market cap of $98.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Southern 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.