3,303 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by Catalina Capital Group LLC

Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 382.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $86.12. 3,987,472 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. 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 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $89.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.18 and its 200-day moving average is $75.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 directly 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 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.