IHT Wealth Management LLC Has $2.10 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

IHT Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,544 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $72.11 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.