The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Sabal Trust CO

Sabal Trust CO boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,636 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $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.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $86.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $89.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern 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.