Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Has $722,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 53.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Southern by 16.2% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 16.3% during the first quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $532,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.04. 2,343,844 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,277,963. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.48. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.