Parkside Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Parkside Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Southern by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,194,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,749,000 after buying an additional 221,452 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 20,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $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 grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 144,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.27.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $88.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.54. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $64.53 and a 52 week high of $91.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.