Advisors Preferred LLC Purchases New Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 6,085 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 216,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,798,000 after buying an additional 5,171 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.53.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.44. The company had a trading volume of 3,069,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,644,116. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $90.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.02. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 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.