Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Buys Shares of 3,219 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

SO stock opened at $89.90 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $90.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

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. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.