The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.24% of Southern worth $2,203,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.39. 3,241,549 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,419,778. The company's 50 day moving average price is $89.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.