Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 9.5%, acquiring an additional 4,949 shares and bringing its total holdings to 57,208 shares valued at approximately $5.26 million.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 EPS for the latest quarter, missing analysts' expectations, while its revenue was $6.97 billion, which exceeded estimates.
• The company recently declared a $0.74 quarterly dividend, with a dividend yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 46,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,827,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Southern by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 599 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 30,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $4,893,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 265,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,820,000 after buying an additional 23,905 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's 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 owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $94.25. 5,252,452 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,203,480. The stock's fifty day moving average is $92.26 and its 200 day moving average is $90.04. The stock has a market cap of $103.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.