OMC Financial Services LTD Invests $421,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.33.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.58. 7,196,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.73 and its 200 day moving average is $74.02. The firm has a market cap of $96.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $89.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $535,509.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.