Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 835 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 63.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Southern by 31.8% during 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. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 120.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 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. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Southern stock opened at $86.92 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.12.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share 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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.