Vanguard Group Inc. Has $7.18 Billion Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 481,071 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.14% of Southern worth $7,180,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.40. The company had a trading volume of 2,730,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,243,845. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $89.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $82.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

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.