Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC Buys 503 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 110.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $369,131,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 586.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,564,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,157,000 after buying an additional 4,753,465 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 162.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,572,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $457,306,000 after buying an additional 4,067,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 150.3% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,617,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,118 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total transaction of $1,452,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,659 shares in the company, valued at $7,164,616.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total transaction of $1,452,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,659 shares in the company, valued at $7,164,616.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $348,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,801,994.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.13.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.99. 885,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,051,081. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $58.85 and a 12-month high of $78.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.