The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Constitution Capital LLC

Constitution Capital LLC lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 0.7% of Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Southern by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 121,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,035,000 after buying an additional 20,201 shares in the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 2,957 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Southern by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 14,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 68,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,602,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.29. 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 company has a market cap of $97.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.