SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,312 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SO opened at $77.55 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $80.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.66 and its 200-day moving average is $72.31. The firm has a market cap of $84.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.