OMC Financial Services LTD Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Southern by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in Southern by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 4,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 1,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE SO traded up $1.01 on Friday, reaching $88.58. The company had a trading volume of 7,196,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.73 and its 200-day moving average is $74.02. The stock has a market cap of $96.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $89.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus boosted their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.33.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.