Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Has $800,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

SO opened at $89.70 on Monday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.95.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s 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.