Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Makes New $321,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279 shares in the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth $213,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,245,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 250.9% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $206,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 report on Tuesday. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $99.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.33.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.