Buckhead Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.5% of Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:SO traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,241,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,732,389. The company has a market capitalization of $81.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Southern Company 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.