Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 151.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,458 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 141,876 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Southern were worth $19,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in 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 position 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 worth $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, 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 transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $90.57. 3,649,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,289,607. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $85.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.14. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

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.