Cetera Investment Advisers Has $52.96 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has increased its stake in Southern Company (The) by 7.1%, owning approximately $52.96 million worth of stock after acquiring an additional 38,292 shares.
• Southern Company reported $1.23 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and a 17% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $7.78 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 3.10%.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 575,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 38,292 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.05% of Southern worth $52,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Southern by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 5,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 844,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,524,000 after purchasing an additional 33,847 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Southern by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,715,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,258,000 after purchasing an additional 104,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $95.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,411,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,096,516. The company has a market cap of $104.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $96.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $91.06 and its 200-day moving average is $89.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.