Navigate Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Navigate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $990,000. Southern makes up 0.7% of Navigate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its position in shares of Southern by 243.3% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,462,000. Finally, Bell Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 127,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 21,751 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

SO stock opened at $95.62 on Monday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.