Davis Capital Management Sells 170 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Davis Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.5% of Davis Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 27,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 15,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $356,000. Bush Investment Group LLC raised its position in Southern by 73.1% in the 1st quarter. Bush Investment Group LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $421,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Argus raised their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $931,320.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $1.01 on Friday, reaching $88.58. 7,196,642 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. The firm has a market cap of $96.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.07. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $89.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 12.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.