Marcum Wealth LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $161,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 357,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,521,000 after acquiring an additional 15,206 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 3,253 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in Southern by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 10,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.58% of the company’s stock.
In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 40,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total value of $3,043,550.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,270,936. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $1,101,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,758,125.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,836 shares of company stock worth $8,316,301. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.22.
Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $71.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The Southern Company has a one year low of $60.60 and a one year high of $77.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.48.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.93 billion. Southern had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 16th were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 13th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 125.93%.
Southern Profile: (Get Rating)
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investment operations.
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