King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.9% in the second quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 44,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 75,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,822,000 after buying an additional 5,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction 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 $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 $89.70 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $86.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a PE 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.