Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 2.1 %

SO stock opened at $81.25 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 current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.