Adalta Capital Management LLC Acquires 3,450 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Adalta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.4% of Adalta Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Adalta Capital Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 89,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 8,261 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $384,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 56,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 5,904 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 331.0% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 10,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $364,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.66. 3,129,514 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,487,004. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.20. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.