Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Southern by 112.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,864,000 after purchasing an additional 72,598 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Southern by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 20,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 4,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The firm has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.64. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.35%.

Southern 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.