Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 999 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.21. The company had a trading volume of 5,478,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The company has a market capitalization of $80.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’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 value of $60,286.94. Following 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.