Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in **Southern Company** by 7.4%, acquiring an additional 8,070 shares, bringing its total holdings to 117,078 shares valued at $10.77 million.
• Southern Company reported **$1.23 EPS** for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenues of **$7.78 billion**, marking a **17% year-over-year growth**.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of **$0.74**, with a yield of **3.11%**, to be paid on September 8th to investors of record as of August 18th.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,070 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Southern were worth $10,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.53.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.03. 6,806,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,454,948. 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 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $104.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $91.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.19.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

About Southern

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.