Magnolia Wealth Management LLC Has $235,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Magnolia Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 50.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,026 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 0.2% of Magnolia Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Magnolia Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.00.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

SO stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $87.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,480,143. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.13. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The firm has a market cap of $95.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days. 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.