Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in Southern by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have recently commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO
Insider Activity at Southern
In other 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 directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of SO stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.25. 1,453,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,097,340. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $91.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business 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 company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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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