Rossmore Private Capital Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rossmore Private Capital lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the quarter. Rossmore Private Capital’s holdings in Southern were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Southern by 45.9% in the 1st 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Southern by 2,719.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after purchasing an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. 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 link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.71 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.99. The firm has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors 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 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.