Balboa Wealth Partners Has $1.02 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Balboa Wealth Partners increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 91,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $5,648,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $86.78 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.12. The company has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

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.