MONECO Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 8,371 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MONECO Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $587,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 63.9% in 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 last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $74.49 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.14%.

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.