King Luther Capital Management Corp Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 82,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during 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 stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. SCP Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 5,018 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio 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.