Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Purchases 77,194 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,589,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,194 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $111,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Southern by 3.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 921,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,672,805. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.45. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $81.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.