DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $1.17 on Wednesday, reaching $74.67. 2,758,986 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,698,889. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.