Nova R Wealth Inc. Invests $202,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nova R Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 382.0% during the first 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 holdings in Southern by 8.8% during the first 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 grew its holdings in Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

SO traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $87.37. 3,754,353 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,480,143. The stock has a market cap of $95.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.25. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

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.