Columbia Asset Management Sells 391 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Columbia Asset Management decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 391 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st 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. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $90.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.