MRP Capital Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its position in Southern by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 31,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,894,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 240.4% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 6,661 shares during the period. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Southern by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Southern by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 233,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,481,000 after buying an additional 10,600 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 37,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,451,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $95.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $104.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $90.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.02. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.53.

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.