Jennison Associates LLC Has $140.87 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,562,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 77,041 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.14% of Southern worth $140,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 150,989 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,616,000 after purchasing an additional 8,246 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $5,358,000. First City Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in Southern by 24.4% during the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

SO traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $88.00. 2,907,941 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,434,771. The company has a market cap of $96.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $89.79 and its 200-day moving average is $84.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.