Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Has $348,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its position in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.50. 5,251,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,726,238. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.93 and a 200-day moving average of $69.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

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.