Motco Has $218,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Motco increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Southern were worth $218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Southern by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Southern by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after acquiring an additional 239,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total value of $359,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,284 shares in the company, valued at $10,516,356.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 27,426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total transaction of $2,059,966.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,898.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total transaction of $359,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,356.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,917 shares of company stock worth $6,889,527. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.17. The stock had a trading volume of 883,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,158,462. The company has a market capitalization of $75.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.97. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $58.85 and a 52 week high of $80.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. VNET Group restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.07.

Southern Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.