Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE SO opened at $93.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.81.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.85.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.