Koss Olinger Consulting LLC Buys New Stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Koss Olinger Consulting LLC has acquired 6,878 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $632,000, reflecting new interest in the utilities sector.
• Southern Company reported an earnings miss for the last quarter with an EPS of $0.91, below the consensus estimate of $0.99, while quarterly revenue was up 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, marking a 3.1% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date set for August 18th.

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $945,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 15,923 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,477,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,203,186. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $104.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $92.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.01.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.