Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 82,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,760,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 15,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,392,000 after buying an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 31,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 9,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 40,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.12 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

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.