Nilsine Partners LLC Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $468,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Southern by 15.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 184,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,290,000 after purchasing an additional 14,399 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.4% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $297,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.44%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.