Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. Has $1.41 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $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% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were 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 owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

Southern stock opened at $88.87 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.65. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $90.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $97.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued 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 payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.71.

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.