M3 Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 11,893 Southern Company (The) $SO

M3 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SOFree Report) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

View Our Latest Research Report on SO

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:SO opened at $94.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.81.

Southern (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate 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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Southern (NYSE:SO)

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