Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 49.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,341 shares during the quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,335,135 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.27.

Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.05. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $91.82. The firm has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. 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.