Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $273,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $75.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.74. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $76.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

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.