Naviter Wealth LLC Acquires 536 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 63.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.74. 347,339 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,425,899. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $92.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.41.

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 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 company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. 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 the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders have sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.