IHT Wealth Management LLC Acquires 4,868 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,868 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 11,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Southern by 0.8% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 19,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 5.6% during the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 3,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 15.6% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Doyle Wealth Management lifted its position in Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Doyle Wealth Management now owns 46,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,192,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. 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 report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.93.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SO opened at $68.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $80.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.