Bfsg LLC Invests $99,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 23,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 16,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 19.9% during the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 43,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $74.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,982,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,666,706. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.35 and a 200-day moving average of $69.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.