Kestra Advisory Services LLC Acquires 41,161 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,161 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $20,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,010,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,083,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $83.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.55. The stock has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.