Clearwave Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Clearwave Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 5,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.32.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

SO stock opened at $93.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.07. The company has a market capitalization of $105.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

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.