Core Alternative Capital Has $9.46 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Core Alternative Capital decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 121,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,632 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 1.9% of Core Alternative Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the 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 in the company, 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 valued at $2,266,455 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.60.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:SO opened at $90.10 on Monday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.85. The company has a market capitalization of $98.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.