The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Francis Financial Inc.

Francis Financial Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the quarter. Francis Financial Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.64 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.07.

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.