Wealth Architects LLC Buys Shares of 2,539 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wealth Architects LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $813,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 80,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,930 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Leslie Global Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. 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 report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.62. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $95.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

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.