B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys Shares of 59,409 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 59,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,358,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1,361.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 241.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 44,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,173,000 after acquiring an additional 31,292 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 31.5% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Southern by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 521,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,410,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Finally, Pitcairn Co. grew its stake in Southern by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.28 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $96.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was 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 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.