Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $79.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.