Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Invests $76,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $1.17 on Wednesday, reaching $87.62. 442,809 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,496,338. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.32. The firm has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $89.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

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.