Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 69,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,750,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 110,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,120,000 after buying an additional 3,664 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 598,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,285,000 after buying an additional 243,000 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 4,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 24,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Southern
In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.54.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on SO
Southern Stock Up 0.4 %
Shares of SO traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $90.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,332,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,470,757. The company has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $73.20 and a 12 month high of $94.45.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.82%.
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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