Concord Wealth Partners Has $1.63 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during 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 grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.71. The company had a trading volume of 2,866,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,702,833. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $81.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.50.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

About Southern

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.