7,058 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Bought by Dockside LLC

Dockside LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 7,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.90 on Monday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $105.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Southern Profile

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.