Doliver Advisors LP Has $513,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Doliver Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Doliver Advisors LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 86,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 164,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,522,000 after buying an additional 25,818 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $364,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 165.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 152,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 95,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.3%

Southern stock opened at $89.94 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $98.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.21.

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.