The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Breakwater Capital Group

Breakwater Capital Group raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the quarter. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Southern were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Argus lifted their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $77.57 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.27.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Southern Profile

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.