Imprint Wealth LLC Has $1.96 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Imprint Wealth LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises 1.6% of Imprint Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Imprint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SVB Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 17,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,393,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its position in shares of Southern by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 25,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after acquiring an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 12,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.47 on Tuesday, hitting $67.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,094,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,562,178. The firm has a market cap of $74.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,113 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

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.