Churchill Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $971,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Churchill Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% in the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,358,000 after acquiring an additional 543,517 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,852,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,753,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,966,000 after acquiring an additional 47,451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.67 on Monday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $106.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.56.

Insider Activity at Southern

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

About Southern

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.