Bison Wealth LLC Has $1.66 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bison Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,413 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Southern by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,556,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 8,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.54.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.95 and its 200-day moving average is $87.38. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $73.20 and a 1-year high of $94.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $100.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company 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.