Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 219 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 382.0% in the 1st 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 boosted its stake in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st 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. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in Southern by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.74. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $64.53 and a 1-year high of $91.86. The firm has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.

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.