Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires 9,081 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 77.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,081 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after buying an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.56 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.85.

Southern Profile

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.