BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Buys 114,628 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 367.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 114,628 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Southern were worth $12,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,018,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,498,882. The Southern Company has a one year low of $72.11 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.59 and a 200 day moving average of $87.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.