The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 62.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.73.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $78.69 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.