Insight Folios Inc Buys 1,886 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Insight Folios Inc increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 94,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Southern comprises 2.7% of Insight Folios Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Insight Folios Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target 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. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,432,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,629,153. 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 one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $80.84. The firm has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.39.

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. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

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.