The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Increased by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

Southern stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.05. 296,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,664,711. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.