GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,389 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.8% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 27,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 15,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $356,000. Bush Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $421,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

SO traded down $1.45 on Monday, reaching $87.13. 3,943,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,509,088. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $89.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $95.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus boosted their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

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.