Inspire Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 240.4%, acquiring 6,661 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 9,432 shares valued at approximately $867,000.
• Southern Company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $7.78 billion, an increase of 17.0% from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.10%, to be paid on September 8th to shareholders of record on August 18th.

Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 240.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,432 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,661 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Southern by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Southern by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 233,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,481,000 after purchasing an additional 10,600 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 37,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Motco grew its stake in Southern by 3.8% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 5,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 393,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.53.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $95.18. 5,217,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,123,672. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.15.

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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Southern Company 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.