Aquatic Capital Management LLC Invests $1.83 Million in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,827,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its stake in Southern by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,556,000 after buying an additional 14,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 8,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $73.20 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

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.

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