Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,487 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its holdings in Southern by 243.3% during the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $2,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Barclays reduced their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.1%

SO stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.33. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Southern Profile

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.