Advisory Services Network LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $10,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.91 on Friday, reaching $89.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,021,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,560,696. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.67 and its 200 day moving average is $87.27. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.