The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Raised by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 192.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,588 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Southern were worth $950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.91 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.60. The company has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.