The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st 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. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $89.32 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $84.24 and its 200-day moving average is $77.56. The stock has a market cap of $97.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

About Southern

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.