Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $4.09 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $3,795,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $73.50 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.50. The company has a market capitalization of $80.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.