Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. Takes $245,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 2,137 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Southern by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 9,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 7,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Southern by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.