Insight Folios Inc Has $6.75 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Insight Folios Inc raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 2.7% of Insight Folios Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Insight Folios Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,945,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $16,067,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Southern stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $77.72. 1,432,802 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,629,153. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.39. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.