Second Line Capital LLC Buys 1,348 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Second Line Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the quarter. Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Southern stock opened at $88.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Activity

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

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.