Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Invests $268,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.12. 3,987,472 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $89.68. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.99. The company has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Southern

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.