Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $260,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,096,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.5% in the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $431,000. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $92.98. 726,946 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,416,501. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $93.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.92 and a 200-day moving average of $81.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

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.