The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.

Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after purchasing an additional 934,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Southern by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. 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 $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

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.