Secure Asset Management LLC Has $817,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 143.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,215 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Diversified LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the second quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 28,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the second quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 178,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1,757.2% during the second quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 10,543 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 75.0% during the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 17.1% during the second quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

SO stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,987,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Bank of America increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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

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.