Raymond James Trust N.A. Has $8.89 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,987,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.18 and a 200-day moving average of $75.99. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $89.68.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Company 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.