Curi RMB Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 2,401 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.93 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.23. The firm has a market cap of $96.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

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.