DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Acquires 43,681 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 24.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,681 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. 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 ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.44 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $97.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.14 and its 200 day moving average is $78.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.71.

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.