Austin Private Wealth LLC Buys 972 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 27,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Southern by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 152,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 95,175 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 10,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $364,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $83.91 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.54. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.