2,825 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Haven Capital Group Inc.

Haven Capital Group Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,825 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,605,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,866,000 after purchasing an additional 465,399 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % 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 Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

SO traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $89.21. 8,327,269 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,304,442. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock's fifty day moving average is $86.53 and its 200-day moving average is $87.24. The company has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

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.