Waldron Private Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its position in Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.08 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.11. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $93.73. The company has a market capitalization of $101.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

About Southern

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.