Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Acquires 523 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $376,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 151,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,847,000 after acquiring an additional 8,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $95.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.62. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid 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 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.