Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 26,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Southern by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707,845 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $128,413,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.73.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $79.24. 2,984,135 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,835,438. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.69 and a 200 day moving average of $70.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $79.85. The company has a market cap of $86.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.