Savant Capital LLC Has $19.13 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 290.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 246,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 183,425 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its position in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.40 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Argus raised their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

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.