DB&C Advisors LLC Makes New $609,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

DB&C Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 940.2% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 206,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,979,000 after purchasing an additional 60,173 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 7,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.74 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $104.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.26 and a 200 day moving average of $91.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction 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 approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

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.