Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 54,120 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,795,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.4% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Southern by 33.5% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Southern by 63.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,776,000 after purchasing an additional 239,325 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.14.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.91. The stock had a trading volume of 5,248,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,884,880. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The firm has a market cap of $76.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $68.72 and its 200 day moving average is $68.88.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Southern Company 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.