Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 13,295 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,031,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $1.15 on Friday, reaching $90.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,474,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,470,536. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.38. The company has a market cap of $98.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $90.85.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.60.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.