The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Increased by Main Street Financial Solutions LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Southern Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.77 on Thursday. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $90.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Company 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.