HHM Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.21. 5,478,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $80.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

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.