Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 133.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Southern
In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.46.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Southern
Southern Trading Up 1.4 %
Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.30 on Monday, reaching $92.43. 1,079,196 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,033,542. The company has a market capitalization of $101.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm's 50-day moving average is $87.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.24.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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