Townsquare Capital LLC Has $2.39 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.13 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

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.