Kowal Investment Group LLC Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.43 on Monday, reaching $77.14. 1,516,008 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,633,642. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.27. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.84. The company has a market cap of $84.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.