MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC Has $6.38 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,964 shares during the period. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus lifted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Insider Activity

In related 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $88.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio 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.