Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,562,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 77,041 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $140,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Southern by 34.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value 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 $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. 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. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $88.28 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company 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 12.78%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.