Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $245.48 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 18.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,164,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 694,935 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.29% of Southern worth $245,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Southern by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,528,000 after purchasing an additional 452,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after acquiring an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued 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 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, 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 value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.