Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Acquires 1,230 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $468,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Southern by 15.3% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 8.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 184,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,290,000 after buying an additional 14,399 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.4% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $297,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $83.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.