232,075 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 232,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,002,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value 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 $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.41 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Argus boosted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

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.