Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 45,500 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,500 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Southern were worth $12,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its stake in Southern by 2.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $1.70 on Thursday, reaching $89.50. 3,107,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,558,436. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $88.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.27. 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 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.