The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 160.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.40 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.27. The firm has a market cap of $96.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.