Edge Capital Group LLC Purchases 1,286 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Edge Capital Group LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.95. The company has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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 is 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of 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, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.