Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,501 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the second quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 27,397 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 82,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,407,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.9% in the second quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 44,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $90.52 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.