The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stake Boosted by Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,279 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Southern stock opened at $90.74 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.33. The firm has a market cap of $99.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

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.