Dougherty & Associates LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Dougherty & Associates LLC opened a new position in Southern Company in the fourth quarter, buying 11,932 shares worth about $1.04 million.
• Southern also saw continued interest from large institutional investors, while insider selling included shares sold by EVP Christopher Cummiskey and CEO Kimberly S. Greene.
• The utility reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.3%.

Dougherty & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,932 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,040,000. Southern makes up about 0.9% of Dougherty & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 320.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,265,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $371,938,000 after purchasing an additional 255,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.85.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of 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 Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents 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

NYSE:SO opened at $92.56 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average price of $95.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.77. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $104.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Southern Company 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.

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