The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Telos Capital Management Inc.

Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares during the quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5,840.2% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,939,000 after buying an additional 1,916,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.07.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $69.82. 3,806,977 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,598,189. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.97. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $76.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.