Meridian Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 51,510 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 51,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,645,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 8,741.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Southern by 2,719.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after buying an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,457,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.29 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.77 and its 200-day moving average is $84.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 3.21 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

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.