Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Acquires 3,140 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,140 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at $399,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,139,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,959,000 after acquiring an additional 40,511 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 40.8% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 569,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,212,000 after acquiring an additional 8,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $237,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 can be accessed through this link. In related 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 value of $535,509.00. Following 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.71.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

SO opened at $89.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $98.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. 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 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.72.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

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.