Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Bought by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,701 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 130,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,827,000 after buying an additional 37,247 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 29.2% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Southern by 19.1% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 92,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,908,000 after buying an additional 14,798 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $1,908,000. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $3,059,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Capital One Financial set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.32.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.74 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $81.69 and a 1-year high of $99.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.49 and its 200 day moving average is $92.56. The company has a market cap of $109.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $8.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sterling Spainhour, Jr. sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total transaction of $306,002.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,453.66. This represents a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company is an energy holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service, primarily across the southeastern United States. Its electric utility businesses include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers in their respective states. Southern Company also owns Southern Power, which develops and operates wholesale power generation assets, and Southern Company Gas, whose businesses distribute natural gas to customers in several states.