Aventura Private Wealth LLC Invests $627,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.49 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $102.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.