MJP Associates Inc. ADV Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’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 directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.24. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.07.

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.