Naviter Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 66,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 8.3% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 5,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 947,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,308,000 after purchasing an additional 15,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Home Federal Bank of Tennessee boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the third quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 8,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $73.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

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.