Advisor OS LLC Has $1.12 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,364 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.34. 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 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 worth $1,678,625 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.