The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Harbor Investment Advisory LLC

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5,840.2% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,939,000 after buying an additional 1,916,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $69.56 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.14.

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.