SteelPeak Wealth LLC Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1,502.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,846 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

SO stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.54. 1,323,189 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,396,083. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.91. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $97.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

About Southern

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.