Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 300 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $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 purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.05 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.