Buckhead Capital Management LLC Has $4.03 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.5% of Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Trading Up 1.4 %

SO stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, reaching $74.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,241,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,732,389. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.50. The firm has a market cap of $81.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. 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.