BCS Wealth Management Sells 7,128 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

BCS Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 50.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,128 shares during the quarter. BCS Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after acquiring an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, 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 value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $95.77 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.23. 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 firm has a market cap of $107.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.