107,523 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Acquired by Uhlmann Price Securities LLC

Uhlmann Price Securities LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 107,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,106,000. Southern makes up approximately 0.7% of Uhlmann Price Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 243.3% in the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,753 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,443,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.32.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

SO opened at $93.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.