Trajan Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trajan Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $91.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.31 and a 200-day moving average of $87.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $71.66 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.