Mosley Wealth Management Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mosley Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 386 shares during the quarter. Mosley Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $631,068,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after purchasing an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $56,924,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.41. 4,614,282 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,798,487. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.27. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.