Brooklyn Investment Group Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Southern were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.37 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $96.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

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.