The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Chronos Wealth Management LLC

Chronos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 3.6% of Chronos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Chronos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Southern by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,978,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,760,000 after buying an additional 18,841 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, 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 transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.03.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Southern Company 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.