Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 7,588 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,588 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 19.1% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,218,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,781,000 after acquiring an additional 6,074 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southern by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,290,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,606,000 after acquiring an additional 198,164 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value 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 $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.71 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.