Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $2.18 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,434 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.25. 5,541,038 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,853,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $78.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.22 and a 200-day moving average of $69.93.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.