TCTC Holdings LLC Buys 1,368 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its stake in Southern by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.1%

SO opened at $94.30 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $103.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.