Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Company by 18% to 101,903 shares (worth $8.89M), and institutional investors now own about 64.10% of the company.
• Insider sales: EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares and CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares, reducing their positions by roughly 17.8% and 19.4%, respectively.
• Dividend increase: Southern raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 ($3.04 annualized) for a ~3.3% yield, with an ex-dividend date of May 18 and payment on June 8.

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,553 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $8,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,358,000 after purchasing an additional 543,517 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,852,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,753,676 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $260,966,000 after purchasing an additional 47,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 202,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,145,000 after purchasing an additional 13,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore upgraded Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.08.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE SO opened at $93.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $95.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Southern 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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