Brookstone Capital Management, a leading investment management firm, recently revealed an increase in its holdings of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter. According to their Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Brookstone Capital Management acquired an additional 9,925 shares of Southern’s stock, resulting in an 18.2% growth in their overall holdings. As of their most recent filing, the firm now owns a total of 64,371 shares worth approximately $4.55 million.
The Southern Company has attracted the attention of various research analysts who have provided their insights on the company. One such analyst, Wells Fargo & Company, recently lowered their price target for Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note released on August 4th. Similarly, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Southern and assigned it a “buy” rating along with a price objective of $72.00 on August 9th. Barclays also started coverage on Southern and gave it an “equal weight” rating with a target price of $68.00 on August 23rd.
In another notable development, Bank of America upgraded Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased its price target from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note published on September 13th. However, Guggenheim dropped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note issued on July 7th.
Currently, three research analysts have given Southern’s stock a sell rating, while five analysts have assigned it a hold rating and five others have recommended buying shares of the company. Additionally, one analyst has even issued a strong buy rating for Southern based on data obtained from Bloomberg.com.
On September 19th, shares of Southern opened at $70.95. The company’s 50-day moving average stands at $69.42, while its two-hundred day moving average is slightly higher at $70.10. With a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83, Southern has maintained adequate financial strength. It also has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, indicating a reasonable level of leverage for the utilities provider.
Over the past year, Southern’s stock has displayed a range between $58.85 (its 52-week low) and $78.34 (its 52-week high). Currently, it boasts a market capitalization of $77.37 billion with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.07 and a P/E/G ratio of 4.93, suggesting potential growth opportunities for investors.
In conclusion, Brookstone Capital Management’s increased holdings in The Southern Company reflects their confidence in the company’s future prospects within the utilities industry. Despite differing research analyst opinions on Southern’s stock, it maintains a consensus rating of “Hold” according to Bloomberg.com data, with an average target price of $73.13 based on analysts’ estimates as of September 19th.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or an endorsement to buy/sell securities mentioned above.
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc.
OHI
Strong Buy
Updated on: 19/09/2023
Financial Health
Very Healthy
Debt to equity ratio: Buy
Price to earnings ratio: Strong Buy
Price to book ratio: Strong Buy
DCF: Strong Buy
ROE: Neutral
Hedge Funds and Institutional Investors Show Growing Interest in Southern Company
September 19, 2023 – Hedge funds and other institutional investors are making significant changes to their holdings in Southern Company (NYSE:SO). Prudential PLC, for instance, increased its stake in the utilities provider by 23.4% during the first quarter. This move resulted in the company now owning 19,438 shares of Southern’s stock worth $1,409,000. Similarly, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its investment by 33.5% during the same period and now holds 1,727 shares of Southern’s stock valued at $126,000.
Covestor Ltd also bolstered its position in Southern during Q1 this year by acquiring an additional 735 shares, a rise of 63.0%. This move implies that Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares worth $138,000.
Additionally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings by 0.4% during the first quarter. This resulted in the company owning a total of 49,925 shares of Southern’s stock valued at $3,621,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp also witnessed significant growth in its position regarding Southern’s stock as it grew by 35.8%. The company currently owns approximately 907,132 shares worth $65,776,000.
These developments reveal an interesting trend among hedge funds and other institutional investors who seem to be increasing their interest in Southern Company. Currently, approximately 62.85% of Southern’s stock is owned by these investors.
In other news related to Southern Company executives’ activities within the company; EVP Christopher Cummiskey recently sold his entire share of stocks totaling up to 5,000 shares on Tuesday,
August 29th. The transaction was made at an average price of $68.30 per share with a total value amounting to $341,500.
Following this sale completion on August
29th,
Cummiskey now owns 22,512 shares valued at $1,537,569.60.
Another significant transaction within Southern Company involved CEO Kimberly S. Greene’s selling of 20,000 shares at an average price of $72.62 per share on Friday, July 21st. The total value of this sale reached $1,452,400. Post-transaction, the CEO now possesses 98,659 shares worth approximately $7,164,616.58.
Overall, these insider trading activities have resulted in a total of 41,490 shares traded by insiders over the past three months which is estimated to be worth around $2,934,355.
However,
it should be noted that these insider selling activities represent only
0.37% of the company’s stock,
indicating that majority ownership continues to remain with institutional investors.
Moving beyond insider transactions and institutional ownership,
Southern Company has also been attracting attention from research analyst reports.
Wells Fargo & Company recently decreased their price target for Southern’s stock from $75.00 to $74.00.
Similarly,
LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Southern and provided a “buy” rating accompanied by a $72.00 price objective.
Barclays also initiated coverage on Southern with an “equal weight” rating where they set a target price of $68.00 on the stock.
Bank of America further upgraded its rating for Southern from “underperform” to “neutral” along with an increased price target from $67.00 to $68.00.
Guggenheim added to these ratings by dropping their target price for Southern Company’s stock from
$79
to
$77.
Overall,
this multitude of research analyst opinion paints a picture wherein three analysts have rated the stock as “sell,” five as “hold,” five as “buy,” and one endorsement was given as a strong buy.
According to Bloomberg.com’s data, the consensus rating for Southern Company stands as “Hold” with an average target price of $73.13.
When it comes to financial performance,
Southern (NYSE:SO) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday,
August 3rd, wherein they reported earnings per share of $0.79.
The company beat the consensus estimate by $0.05.
In addition, Southern boasted a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17% during Q2.
While revenue for the quarter stood at $5.75 billion, which was less than the expected estimate of $6.47 billion.
Comparing this to the same period last year reveals that Southern’s revenue experienced a decrease of 20.2%.
Based on research analysts’ forecasts,
Southern Company is expected to post EPS of 3.6 for the current fiscal year.
Lastly, Southern recently announced its quarterly dividend amounting to $0.70 per share that was paid on Wednesday,
September 6th.
Investors who were on record as of Monday,
August 21st would have received this dividend.
This dividend equates to an annualized payout ratio of approximately 98.94%.
With these recent developments in investor
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