14,990 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,234,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3.0% in 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 buying an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 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 the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $89.50. The stock had a trading volume of 764,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,543,144. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.26.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 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.