IAG Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 295.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

SO opened at $73.21 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.38. The company has a market cap of $80.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, 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 transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.