Investment Management Corp of Ontario Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 48.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 121,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,941,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 12.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,039,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,780,000 after acquiring an additional 112,132 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped 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, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $86.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $94.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.27. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.