Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Invests $21.48 Million in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 260,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $21,478,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.07.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $87.30. The stock had a trading volume of 5,255,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,436,585. The firm's 50 day moving average is $90.03 and its 200 day moving average is $87.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.