Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $372,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $27,439,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $325,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $197,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related 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 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 $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,845 shares of company stock worth $1,335,135. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $90.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.96. 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 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $91.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.60.

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.