Donaldson Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,225 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 570,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,225 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.6% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Southern worth $49,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $105.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

Southern 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.