2,572 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by Pure Financial Advisors LLC

Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $88.54 on Monday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.35. The company has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern 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.