Tower Bridge Advisors Buys 150 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Investors Research Corp raised its position in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth $39,000. Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $95.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $104.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $91.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.19. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.