Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,267 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Southern by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 32,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Santori & Peters Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 46.8% during the third quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 161,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,568,000 after buying an additional 51,472 shares during the period. Finally, Element Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.2% in the third quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 8,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $91.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.