Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 66.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,658 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.51 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.78. The firm has a market cap of $104.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.