Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes $507,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

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.