Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 92,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $89.38 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $89.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during 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 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

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.