Signaturefd LLC Has $4.39 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 793 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 63.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern 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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.08. 911,667 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,417,407. The company has a market cap of $101.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $64.53 and a 52-week high of $93.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.95. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

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.