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

NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,839 shares during the quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,795,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $73.26. 6,054,387 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,689,873. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.18. The company has a market cap of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

About Southern

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.