Brown Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings 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. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus lifted their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Southern Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE SO opened at $77.18 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $80.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $84.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.