Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 0.8% of Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,815,000 after buying an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 145.6% in the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 28,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 16,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 70.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $95.03 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company has a market cap of $104.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. 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 fifty day moving average of $91.16 and a 200-day moving average of $89.23.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s 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.