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

Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 94.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.99 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.90. The firm has a market cap of $98.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.