Fonville Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

by · The Markets Daily

Fonville Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 92.4% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 12,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 6,089 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Southern by 17.6% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 259,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,394,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the period. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 4.2% during the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 18,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 10.8% during the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,678,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,437,666. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.01. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $97.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.07.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Southern

About Southern

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles