Naviter Wealth LLC Acquires 2,209 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after buying an additional 5,707,845 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $128,413,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Argus upped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $77.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $80.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.