Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $834,000 Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SOFree Report) by 179.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,139 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $834,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 120.1% during the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.85.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO

Southern Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of SO opened at $92.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.34 and its 200-day moving average is $91.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 75.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

(Free Report)

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Southern (NYSE:SO)

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