Calton & Associates Inc. Invests $215,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $3,096,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 79,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,697,000 after purchasing an additional 12,247 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 41,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Southern by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.08 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $64.53 and a 1-year high of $93.73. 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 issued its 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 net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

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.