Spire Wealth Management Sells 997 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Spire Wealth Management reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 997 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Southern by 45.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $631,068,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,993,000 after acquiring an additional 111,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.60 on Friday, reaching $86.40. The company had a trading volume of 4,137,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,204,716. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $89.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.58.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

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.