Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $317,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.26. 6,054,387 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,689,873. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.