Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 3,768 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 116.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,095,000 after purchasing an additional 12,849 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

SO stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.20 and a 200-day moving average of $78.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given 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 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Southern 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.