Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $2.72 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 0.8% of Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Simmons Bank lifted its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 55,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,893,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $426,993,000 after buying an additional 111,311 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,253 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in Southern by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 51,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,585,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.63. 6,676,933 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,845,073. The company has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $77.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.82.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.35%.

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.