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

Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 110.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,776,000 after acquiring an additional 239,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 885,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,051,081. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.10. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.85 and a fifty-two week high of $78.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $77.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its 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 company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,569.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $99,904.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,878,289.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,569.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.13.

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.