Profund Advisors LLC Has $4.68 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 48.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,682 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.