Grimes & Company Inc. Buys 2,341 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

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 shares were 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 owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.61 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $102.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.20.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business 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 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

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.