Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 39,840 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 61.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 39,840 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 63.2% in 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. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

SO opened at $92.73 on Tuesday. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $64.53 and a 1-year high of $93.73. The company has a market capitalization of $101.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.95.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.