The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.71.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.58. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

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.