Verity Asset Management Inc. Buys 9,763 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 102.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,763 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential PLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Southern by 33.5% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Southern by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after buying an additional 239,325 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,878,289.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total value of $341,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

SO traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $68.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 657,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,037,120. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.94. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.85 and a fifty-two week high of $79.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $75.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The business’s revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.