Brookwood Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired 3,115 shares of Southern Company, valued at approximately $286,000, marking a new position in the utilities provider.
• Several institutional investors, including Geode Capital Management and UBS AM, have significantly increased their stakes in Southern Company, reflecting strong confidence from the investment community.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.10% and a payout ratio of 70.64%.

Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Elequin Capital LP raised its stake in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.63 on Tuesday, hitting $94.93. 1,342,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,094,643. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.97 and a 200-day moving average of $89.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $104.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.