Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,709 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $9,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,284,352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,841 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Southern by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,917,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,489,935,000 after buying an additional 2,583,841 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,436,360,000 after buying an additional 1,391,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,068,549 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,424,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,036 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,062,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $208,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,989 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Southern to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.93.
Southern Trading Down 0.9 %
Shares of SO traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,892,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,183,508. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $80.57. The firm has a market cap of $69.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock's 50 day moving average is $67.32 and its 200 day moving average is $69.00.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.93%.
Southern Company Profile
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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.
Further Reading
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