Arlington Trust Co LLC Buys 2,481 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 68.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,481 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $414,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 24,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,002,000. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Southern by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its stake in Southern by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 11,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

SO stock opened at $88.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.34. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Argus raised their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

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.