AMI Asset Management Corp Takes $849,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

AMI Asset Management Corp bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $849,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $631,068,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $128,413,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,432,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,629,153. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.39. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.84. The stock has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SO. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

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.