Gabelli Funds LLC Has $34.53 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 419,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,050 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $34,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.22 on Friday, reaching $91.69. 3,461,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,528,453. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $70.70 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.