Searle & CO. Purchases 1,914 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Searle & CO. grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 49.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Southern were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.40. 4,137,355 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,458,000. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.52. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $94.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. 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 90 days. 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.