The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,023 shares during the quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. 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 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

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.