D Orazio & Associates Inc. Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 63.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $87.25. 560,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,434,969. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $95.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.