Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Raises Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its stake in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $88.87 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $97.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

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.