Certified Advisory Corp Makes New $604,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after buying an additional 481,071 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Southern by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,528,000 after buying an additional 452,075 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $90.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.10. The company has a market cap of $98.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.59.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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 given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.