The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC

Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,726 shares during the period. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.41. The company has a market capitalization of $100.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $92.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern 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 in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.