Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys 563 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first 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 holdings in shares of Southern by 46.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. 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 research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.11.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.