Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,120,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,395 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.19% of Southern worth $152,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Southern by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 66,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 5,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 947,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,308,000 after buying an additional 15,059 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction 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 accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $74.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,852,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,719,605. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.45. The stock has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

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.