Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Sells 706 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the first quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $1.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,354,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,808,948. The firm has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.48. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.67. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $80.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.