Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Has $271,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 27,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 4,297 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 33,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,818 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 57,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Southern by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 23,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,402. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $75.85 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.58. The stock has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.35%.

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.