Entropy Technologies LP Purchases 29,070 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 388.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,070 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $84.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.65. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

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.