Allen Capital Group LLC Buys 3,059 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $82.88. 5,771,792 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,228,738. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $90.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's 50-day moving average is $84.15 and its 200-day moving average is $86.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern 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.