Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC Has $253,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,974,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,522,636. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.59 and its 200-day moving average is $74.66. The company has a market capitalization of $94.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus increased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.93.

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.