The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Bremer Bank National Association

Bremer Bank National Association decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,921 shares during the period. Bremer Bank National Association’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 454.8% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 56,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,421,000 after buying an additional 4,927 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 355,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,605,000 after buying an additional 32,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.00.

Southern Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,284,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,495,499. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.96. The company has a market cap of $95.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.