Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its stake in Southern by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE SO opened at $94.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.29.

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.