Visionary Horizons LLC Sells 579 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Visionary Horizons LLC lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 579 shares during the period. Southern comprises about 0.6% of Visionary Horizons LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

SO opened at $78.20 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $80.84. The stock has a market cap of $85.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.