The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Boosted by Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.0% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The stock 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors 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 yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities 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 MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Southern 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.