NorthRock Partners LLC Has $1.52 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 125.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,243 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,169,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 45,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 7,768 shares in the last quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 173,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,292,000 after purchasing an additional 82,890 shares during the period. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,050,000. Finally, Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $767,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.16 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.22. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $93.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

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.