Seneca House Advisors Makes New $588,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Seneca House Advisors bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its position in shares of Southern by 243.3% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,443,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE SO opened at $94.27 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.03. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.38.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.