Verity & Verity LLC Has $14.52 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 187,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,118 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 1.7% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $91.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results 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 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,845 shares of company stock worth $1,335,135. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.60.

About Southern

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.