Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $87.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,016,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,527,416. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $89.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $80.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.32. The stock has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.