Daviman Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Daviman Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 7,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the third quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 28,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.67 on Friday. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.06 and a 200-day moving average of $91.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.