Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Has $1.07 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,657,000 after purchasing an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $236,271,000 after buying an additional 82,946 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.13 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.12. The company has a market cap of $97.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 3.25 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 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. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, 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. Corporate 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.