Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Purchases 18,014 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 31,603.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,014 shares during the quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 158,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,315,000 after purchasing an additional 14,648 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 60,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,683,000 after buying an additional 19,682 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Southern by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.95.

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 company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.