Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 213.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 98,068 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after purchasing an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,469,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,739,155. The company has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.58. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. The company’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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.34%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

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.