Brookstone Capital Management Increases Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 170,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,475 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gentry Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.3% in the third quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 11,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell 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 $99.32.

Insider Activity

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

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE SO opened at $93.23 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.09. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. 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 (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

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.