XML Financial LLC Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

XML Financial LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 473 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $631,068,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,993,000 after purchasing an additional 111,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after purchasing an additional 934,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $4.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $87.57. The company had a trading volume of 8,498,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,494,367. The stock has a market cap of $95.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

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.