Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 112.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,864,000 after buying an additional 72,598 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Southern by 14.6% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 20,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 7.0% in the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 4,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value 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 approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.64.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.35%.

Southern 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.