Destination Wealth Management Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Destination Wealth Management acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $2,361,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 5,713 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 403,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,363,000 after acquiring an additional 28,889 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,940,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.37 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.47. The firm has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.