Spirit of America Management Corp NY Has $311,000 Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Ridge Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 184,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,638,000 after acquiring an additional 6,259 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 31,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Southern by 172.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 207,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,701,000 after buying an additional 131,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $286,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

SO opened at $93.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $102.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.18 and a 200 day moving average of $82.20. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 68.57%.

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.