Kowal Investment Group LLC Has $710,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 62,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.20 and a 200-day moving average of $78.88.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.