The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stake Boosted by Archer Investment Corp

Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.93. The stock had a trading volume of 61,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,423,308. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.13. 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 company has a market cap of $95.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.