Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,362 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the second quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 31,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,411 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 414.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 131,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,235,000 after purchasing an additional 106,304 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 69,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,419,000 after buying an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.