Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Increases Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after buying an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1,747.3% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,785,000 after purchasing an additional 847,803 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.53.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.30 on Tuesday. 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 $103.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.15. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Southern Company 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.