The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the first 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. boosted its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on 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 lifted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.