Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,480 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $376,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 5.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 151,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,847,000 after buying an additional 8,197 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Southern by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Southern by 491.9% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 222,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,969,000 after buying an additional 184,993 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $86.93 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.86 and a 200-day moving average of $83.62. The firm has a market cap of $95.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.