Telos Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Telos Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth 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 last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

SO traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $86.40. 4,137,355 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,204,716. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $89.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.58. The firm has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.