Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC Invests $1.92 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,920,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.32.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $93.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.