Tyler Stone Wealth Management Buys 2,175 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 154.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $88.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $96.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.89.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.