Drake & Associates LLC Grows Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Drake & Associates LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after buying an additional 352,023 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $68.44. 780,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,566,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.93.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,113 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.