Centaurus Financial Inc. Boosts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.4% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Southern by 63.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after buying an additional 239,325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $68.12 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $80.57. The company has a market cap of $74.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.94 and a 200-day moving average of $68.73.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southern to $80.00 in a report on Monday, November 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

Southern Company Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.