79,420 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by MBB Public Markets I LLC

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 79,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,161,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 382.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its position in Southern by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,095,000 after buying an additional 12,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.60.

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.