Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 10,111 Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,111 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $930,000. Southern comprises 0.7% of Kingsman Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 56.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,799.2% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Mosley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 12,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 124.9% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 5,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE SO traded up $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $95.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,444,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,116,539. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $90.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.78. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The firm has a market cap of $104.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.

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.