Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 23,889 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 7.7%, purchasing an additional 23,889 shares, bringing its total holdings to 333,193 shares valued at approximately $30.6 million.
• Southern Company's CEO, Kimberly S. Greene, sold 13,158 shares on July 21st, reducing her position by 12.32% and taking her total ownership down to around 93,661 shares.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, providing a yield of 3.1%, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 76.09%.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 23,889 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $30,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $94.07 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $92.49 and a 200-day moving average of $90.25. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $103.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.

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