Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Invests $207,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% in the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth about $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.15 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.20. The stock has a market cap of $102.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.18.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

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.