Meketa Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 9,323 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $767,000. Southern makes up about 1.7% of Meketa Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Down 2.9%

Southern stock opened at $87.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $90.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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