Covington Capital Management Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Covington Capital Management increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 481 shares during the quarter. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,436,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,612 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.0% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,360,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,192,533,000 after purchasing an additional 723,336 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,068,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,424,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,036 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Southern by 6.2% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,284,352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 8.0% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,917,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,489,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,841 shares during the last quarter. 61.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,791.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $66.18 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $72.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.08 and its 200 day moving average is $68.75. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $58.85 and a twelve month high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Wolfe Research raised Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

Southern Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.