100,996 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 100,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,834,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $631,068,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,993,000 after buying an additional 111,311 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $86.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.52. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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 lifted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

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.