IFP Advisors Inc Purchases 24,790 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 201.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,790 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $94.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $106.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.56.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.