Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $49.29 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 68.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 598,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 243,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.05% of Southern worth $49,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after buying an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.77. 2,332,153 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,470,757. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.34. The firm has a market cap of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $73.20 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.