Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 95,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after acquiring an additional 563,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Southern by 35.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,457,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $89.01 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.58. 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 company has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. 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 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.