GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New $302,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,908,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after buying an additional 7,588 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 5,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $941,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SO opened at $87.60 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 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.