The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Cornerstone Advisory LLC

Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 141.5% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 54,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,501,000 after buying an additional 31,692 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 14.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 5,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.60.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $80.39. The company had a trading volume of 4,539,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,770,790. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.22 and a 200 day moving average of $71.16. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.