Arlington Trust Co LLC Buys 2,481 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 68.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,481 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $88.41 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.99 and a 200 day moving average of $77.34. 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 capitalization of $96.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company’s quarterly 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 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given 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 was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, 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 directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 $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 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.