Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 62,631 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 13th, 2023

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Free Report) by 91.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 62,631 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Miller Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Miller Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 63.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $71.59 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.71. The firm has a market cap of $78.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.69. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. Southern had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $3,758,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 847,592 shares in the company, valued at $63,705,014.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 47,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $3,302,408.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 118,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,280,025.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $3,758,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 847,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,705,014.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 205,678 shares of company stock worth $14,881,721 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.93.

About Southern

(Free Report)

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.