GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Southern by 31.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 0.9% during the first quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Gleason Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 16,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $86.80. The company had a trading volume of 660,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,471,069. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $94.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.01 and its 200-day moving average is $75.05. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS 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 paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.