Accurate Wealth Management LLC Buys 3,525 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,525 shares during the quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 21,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 684,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,575,000 after buying an additional 65,826 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Colony Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 19,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 856.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 795,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,738,000 after buying an additional 712,443 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southern to $80.00 in a report on Monday, November 21st. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.90. 10,618,937 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,282,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

About Southern

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.