1832 Asset Management L.P. Purchases 841,435 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2,719.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Southern were worth $67,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO opened at $89.70 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.95. 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.