Elite Financial Inc. Takes $373,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Syverson Strege & Co increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,676,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE SO traded up $1.19 on Friday, reaching $89.94. 10,681,858 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,526,481. The business's fifty day moving average price is $89.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.