Atticus Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Atticus Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 28.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the second quarter. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC now owns 8,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in Southern by 49.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 3,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $219,000. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 14.1% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.63. 1,466,373 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,465,663. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $95.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $89.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.18 and its 200-day moving average is $75.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders 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 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’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 $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.00.

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.