Focus Partners Wealth Has $123.52 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,415,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 128,390 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Southern were worth $123,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $105.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.