34,600 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Greenland Capital Management LP

Greenland Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 34,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,848,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $0.91 on Friday, hitting $89.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,021,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,559,665. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $98.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $88.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.25.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim lowered 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.00.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of 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 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 company insiders.

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.