The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Thrive Wealth Management LLC

Thrive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 48.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the first quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1,073.3% in the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 110.4% in the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 2,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.90. The stock had a trading volume of 505,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,050,884. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $78.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Southern’s revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.58, for a total value of $352,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,024.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.58, for a total transaction of $352,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,024.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 20,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total transaction of $1,452,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,659 shares in the company, valued at $7,164,616.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.13.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.