Good Life Advisors LLC Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Good Life Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank raised its position in Southern by 2.4% in the second quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 6,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 4,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 38,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $71.74. 4,714,953 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,607,419. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.83. The company has a market capitalization of $78.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,291,435.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.