Significant Wealth Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after purchasing an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $79.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.11 and a 200 day moving average of $69.18.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $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 worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.