Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys Shares of 38,000 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 38,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,133,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.38 on Wednesday, hitting $88.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,535,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,345,376. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $85.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

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.