Spire Wealth Management Raises Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 316.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,216 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Southern were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its position in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.71.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.25. The stock had a trading volume of 5,541,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,853,168. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $78.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $85.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50 day moving average is $71.22 and its 200-day moving average is $69.93.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.