7,385 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank increased its stake in Southern by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.08. 469,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,625,271. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.58 and a 200-day moving average of $72.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus increased their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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, June 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

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.