Catalina Capital Group LLC Acquires New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 3,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the second quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the first quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Argus lifted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $86.12. 3,987,472 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.