The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,462 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 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. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.