ORG Partners LLC Acquires 2,447 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 454.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bill Few Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 56,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 355,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,605,000 after acquiring an additional 32,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 5,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value 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. Insiders sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.19. 2,284,164 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,495,499. 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 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $89.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.96.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.