The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Increased by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in 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 buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Southern by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $236,271,000 after purchasing an additional 82,946 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,192,000 after purchasing an additional 51,751 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

Southern stock opened at $86.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.12. 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 has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value 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 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

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.