Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Acquires New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,021,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,559,665. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.67 and a 200 day moving average of $87.25. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $98.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, 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 announced 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.