GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 68.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,389 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st 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. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SO traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $87.13. 3,943,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,509,088. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.