B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 76.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $6,874,000. FourThought Financial LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. FourThought Financial LLC now owns 26,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. now owns 47,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,675,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,276,000 after buying an additional 70,097 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 82,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,578,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $68.12 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.73. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $80.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SO. Wolfe Research upgraded Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Southern to $80.00 in a report on Monday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.