The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Lifted by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 118.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,628 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.49 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.14. The firm has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.21.

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.