Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 170,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,303,000 after buying an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 2,078.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 152,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,769,000 after acquiring an additional 145,667 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.5% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.46.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO
Insider Transactions at Southern
In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Southern Stock Up 1.2 %
Shares of SO stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $92.44. 6,392,546 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,518,173. The stock's fifty day moving average is $87.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $101.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.
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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