The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. SCP Investment LP purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.71.

Insider Activity

In other Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.01 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.58. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 3.17 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.