Greenland Capital Management LP Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Greenland Capital Management LP bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 34,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Southern Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.