LVW Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Citizens Business Bank increased its stake in Southern by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,419,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.0% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 5,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.14.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $77.57 on Monday. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The firm has a market cap of $84.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.58 and a 200-day moving average of $72.27.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 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.