The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 326,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 32,350 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.'s holdings in Southern were worth $25,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $315,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE SO traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.14. 648,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,539,402. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $88.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.