Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Raised by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Southern Company by 295.5% in the first quarter, now holding shares valued at $375,000.
• Southern Company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.74, yielding approximately 3.1%, with the payment scheduled for September 8th.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $93.53 for Southern Company's stock, with ratings ranging from sell to buy among research analysts.

Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 295.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Southern by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 38,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,571,000 after buying an additional 8,360 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,399 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $945,000. Finally, FSA Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $298,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.27 and a 200-day moving average of $89.32. The firm has a market cap of $103.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. 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 (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

About Southern

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.