Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Acquires New Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 6,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $364,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 172.4% during the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,709 shares during the last quarter. Level Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $343,000. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 85,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,681,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,526,504. The stock has a market cap of $98.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.23. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid 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 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

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.