USA Financial Formulas Has $78,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

USA Financial Formulas decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 29.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 359 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Southern were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.27 on Friday. 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 one year low of $64.53 and a one year high of $91.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.74. The stock has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.