Trinity Legacy Partners LLC Has $4.31 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.85. The company has a market cap of $98.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.25.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.