Tower Bridge Advisors Purchases Shares of 6,744 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tower Bridge Advisors acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.90. The firm has a market cap of $98.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.