Marathon Capital Management Invests $576,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Marathon Capital Management bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,358,000 after purchasing an additional 543,517 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $4,852,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,753,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,966,000 after purchasing an additional 47,451 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 7.2% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 202,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,145,000 after purchasing an additional 13,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.08.

Southern Stock Down 0.4%

SO stock opened at $93.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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