Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 82,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,760,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Syverson Strege & Co increased 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 valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $91.92. 2,385,631 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,487,796. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $100.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.34 and a 200 day moving average of $87.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern 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.