The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Diversified Trust Co

Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.14.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SO opened at $77.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.58 and its 200-day moving average is $72.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.84. The firm has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

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.