Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $941,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,432 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC increased its stake in Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $88.58. 1,340,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,447,416. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $89.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.89. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.