Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,393 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Southern worth $81,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its position in Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in Southern by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

SO stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.66. The company had a trading volume of 736,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,464,593. The stock has a market cap of $99.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.79 and a 200-day moving average of $87.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a one year low of $73.20 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.